La Maison Renoma unveils l'Appart, a new Parisian venue located at 129 bis rue de la Pompe in the 16th arrondissement. It will open with a private view of Maurice Renoma’s photography exhibition, Mythologies du Poisson Rouge, on Thursday 26th March, 2020.

• L’Appart Renoma, a new centre for the arts

Located in a Haussmann-era apartment at 129 bis rue de la Pompe, right in the heart of Paris’ 16th arrondissement, the Appart Renoma, which sits above the Maison Renoma’s iconic boutique, is a new, 220m² venue with an artistically emulative atmosphere.

The gallery is housed in an apartment and designed to showcase art in every conceivable shape and form in an intimate setting.

Intended for a wide range of artistic events, the programme will be dynamic and quirky in equal measure, as is the case with other venues owned by the Maison Renoma such as Renoma Café, the boutique itself, the Souplex exhibition space and Renoma Hotel in Tel-Aviv.

L’Appart opens its doors with a photography exhibition with which Maurice Renoma really makes a statement, Mythologies du Poisson Rouge, which will be open to the public from 27th March 2020.

• Mythologies du Poisson Rouge, a photography exhibition with a statement to make

An inveterate traveller, Maurice Renoma journeyed all over the world over a two year period, accompanied by his goldfish Cristobal. He photographed the people he met during his travels.

Cristobal the goldfish is firmly centre stage of Maurice’s encounters, captured for posterity in a series of photographs that are humorous, sensual, affectionate and striking.

This remarkable friend is all the more distinctive for being made out of plastic. Everyone has an opinion about him, whether it’s to view him as a by-product of the petroleum industry, the inevitable short-term result of overfishing or an artificial friend in a hyper-individualistic society.

Unable to speak, but nonetheless, no silent witness, Cristobal represents a critique of the ubiquity of plastic in our society and a way of getting today’s youth to question our use of this material.

These photographs may be discovered during the multimedia, immersive exhibition Mythologies du Poisson Rouge, from 27th March to 31st July 2020 at l’Appart and the Souplex Renoma.

• An immersive display

In the Renoma store’s Souplex space, Cristobal swims through a number of displays which are spectacular, immersive, comical and lyrical, highlighting environmental and societal challenges including addiction, pathological inattentiveness and shifting definitions of ‘common sense’.

Appropriately, Cristobal represents an undercurrent, an underlying theme that guides the visitor through an unusual display made from recycled and reclaimed materials in a way that chimes with the photographer-designer’s fantastical, subversive vision.

In l’Appart, Cristobal adopts the mores of the bourgeoisie : full-length portraits, traditional still-lifes, vanitases – holding up a mirror to our self-image, reflecting upon our lives, our relationships, our models of consumption, our eating habits…

Exhibition 
Mythologies du Poisson Rouge
From Friday 27 March to Friday 31 July 2020
Vernissage Thursday 26 March from 6:30pm

Boutique, Souplex & l’Appart Renoma
129 bis rue de la Pompe, 75116 Paris

https://www.renoma-paris.com/